>>> Updated patch attached.
>> 
>> Thanks.  This approach is fine by me, but the variable you introduced 
>> should not be internal, and it probably should be called out in NEWS 
>> (in the Lisp section), because I believe the intent was to allow other 
>> callers to use it, even though currently we have only one such caller.
>
> Thanks for your feedback.  Updated (and much larger) patch attached.
>

Attached.